A debate and an agreement to deport Al-Qaradawi… and an expected visit to Syria!
Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired a Cabinet session at the Saraya, in which Deputy Prime Minister His Excellency Al-Shami and the Ministers of Education and Higher Education Judge Abbas Al-Halabi, Media Ziad Al-Makari, Finance Youssef Khalil, Industry George Bushkian, Tourism Walid Nassar, Interior and Municipalities Judge Bassam Mawlawi, participated. Environment Nasser Yassin, Communications Johnny Al-Qurm, Culture Judge Muhammad Wissam Mortada, Labor Mustafa Bayram, Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiya, Economy and Trade Amin Salam, State for Administrative Development Affairs Najla Riachi, Sports George Kallas, Health Firas Abyad, Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan.
The Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, and the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makiya, also attended.
The session witnessed a debate between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Minister of Displaced Persons Issam Sharaf al-Din, which led to the latter’s withdrawal.
Sharaf al-Din said after his withdrawal from the ministerial session: “Mikati is resentful of the depositors for taking a stand in solidarity, and I do not agree at all to put the depositors’ file on the shelf and the banks’ treatment will not be at their expense.”
He added: “The superior method of writing off deposits by 80% is categorically rejected.”
For his part, the Minister of Labor in the caretaker government, Mustafa Bayram, stopped at the issue of inspecting travelers, saying: “We believe in the authority of the state and the law, but it must be applied to everyone, and we do not accept targeting any Lebanese group, especially if they are among the families of martyrs.”
At the conclusion of the session, the Minister of Information in the caretaker government, Ziyad Al-Makari, announced, during his reading of the decisions of the Council of Ministers, that “there will be a visit to Syria soon headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, but the date has not been determined yet.”
He pointed out that Mikati “confirmed in a speech at the beginning of the cabinet session that he agreed with the leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, during a call, to continue communication in the interest of Lebanon, Syria, and the region.”
Al-Makari confirmed that “there will be a visit to Syria soon headed by Mikati.”
He announced that “the Council of Ministers took a decision to deport the arrested Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi to the Emirates.”
On the other hand, Mikati assigned Deputy Prime Minister His Excellency Al-Shami to communicate with all parties and put all comments on the item related to addressing the conditions of banks and reorganizing them, as well as on the item related to amending the Monetary and Credit Law and establishing the Central Bank and returning the comments to the Council of Ministers.
